Igor Romaniuk, publisher of the thematic magazine of the gambling market of Ukraine "Azart"

 

 

The legalization of the gambling business in Ukraine in 2021 is slowly approaching completion! The first stage, and most likely the last.

Objectively, this situation was predictable.

The deputies, having adopted the relevant law, absolutely “forgotten” (adopted in the first reading) the bill 2713 d, which is designed to eliminate the glaring shortcomings (double taxation) of the Tax Code of Ukraine, thereby turning any payment in the gambling sector into profit, even if this payment is many times less funds brought into the game (drop), and obliging the operator to be a tax agent. This additional and very heavy tax burden was fatal for 10% of establishments in the first year. The "whales" remained afloat. Someone was “torpedoed” by taking away their licenses and adding them to the sanctions lists, someone is in line (which was announced by the first persons of the state), and someone is spending the last reserves in order to fulfill obligations to the Country and the crew.

CRAIL (Regulator) and AEC (advisory and expert council) were recruited from civil servants, political scientists and lawyers, on a competitive basis, excellent and honest people, but absolutely far away, with rare exceptions, from the topic of regulation, technology and processes in the gambling industry. Then it turned out that there is still a bribe-taker among the super-verified civil servants, and the “Russian trace” stretches behind the head of the АEС. In any civilized country, such "incidents" would lead to the complete resignation of the staff of both structures, official investigations, but as they say: "horses do not change in midstream."

The inclusion in the sanctions lists of the “locomotive” of the reform of gambling legislation, the PM group of companies, made all licensees think about their fate in the Ukrainian market. It became clear that no donations for АFU, no multimillion-dollar charity projects, or multimillion-dollar support for national sports and media resources are insurance against “punishment”. Now everyone “suddenly noticed” branded metro stations, outdoor advertising quarters (directly prohibited by law for licensees), an abundance of banners in social networks and sites of dubious content. Have seen the light! And two years after legalization, they simply did not notice?

The situation has changed. The new Deputy Prime Minister M. Fedoriv made it clear that the regulator will be disbanded and replaced with a robotic system with artificial intelligence. CRAIL turned out to be ineffective, primarily in accordance with the norms of the law. Supervisory body (collector of money) without punitive functions. It started from a misunderstanding of their direct tasks: signing memorandums, PR itself, lawmaking (not specialized), social advertising (which is directly prohibited by law, which is most likely not known to the regulator's specialists). The same fate is likely to await АEС.

What awaits the gambling business in Ukraine in the next couple of months in the face of rejection of 2713 e and digitalization of CRAIL? Anarchy and impoverishment, and as a result, closure. Multi-million reputational losses, lawsuits with international brands and layoffs of staff. Going to illegal immigration, which is already thriving. The patient urgently needs to be saved!